Life in a Mushroom Kingdom Apartment
by MisterDrBob
Summary: Witness the real life adventures of Mario and friends in Mushroom Kingdom Apartments! Based on a piece on deviantART. Rated T for some mild language and themes.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Based on a submission to deviantART. A reimagining of Mario with everyone living in a Brooklyn apartment complex. Follow the wacky real life adventures of the Mario Bros., Peach, Daisy, Wario, and of course, their landlord Bowser. Rated T.

Disclaimer: Characters owned by Nintendo. Concept inspired by artwork done by the-slift, whose permission I have to write this.

* * *

Chapter 1

It was a cloudy February day in Brooklyn, New York. Kind of typical. Nothing really interesting seemed to be happening. On Atlantic Avenue, in a rundown apartment building called Mushroom Kingdom, a phone rang. One of the occupants of the apartment opened up a lazy blue eye, pulled his red cap off his head, stretched, yawned, and grabbed the phone.

"Mario Bros. Plumbing! No leak too small!" Mario said. "Oh Professor! Good to hear from you again! Man, Luigi still wets the bed because of you! So how's the wife? Oh! Oh I'm so sorry sir. When? Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. _That _much pudding? Wow. What a way to go. Oh right. Uh-huh. Okay. Sure! We'll be down faster than you can say sprocket wrench!"

"What's up bro?" Luigi asked, poking his head into the kitchen from the living room.

"We've got a job down on De Kalb." Mario answered, hanging up the phone. "Professor Gadd's place. He's got a bad tub leak. Come on, get the tools. We've gotta get down there fast." Luigi complied, grabbing the two belts containing the tools at the brothers' disposal.

"Professor Gadd? E. Gadd?"

"Do we know anyone else named Gadd?" Mario asked as they shut the door of the apartment and entered the lobby. The lobby was brightly decorated, yet deteriorating at the same time. The once brightly painted walls displayed murals of mushroom and castle dotted landscapes, with puffy white clouds in the sky. Along these walls were a couple of pokey cacti, some piranha-like venus flytraps, a fish tank containing various types of fish, and even a little white squid. The paint was now chipped and fading, projecting a kind of melancholy foreboding into the Mushroom Kingdom.

Professor Elvin Gadd lived not far away fortunately. The bros managed to reach his townhouse in a matter of minutes on foot.

"Oh thank goodness you've come boys!" The kooky professor cried as he opened his door.

"Just stand back and let the pros work Prof!" Luigi shouted as he charged headlong gung ho into the apartment.

"All right Luigi! You find the leak, I'm going to shut off the water!" Mario called as he descended into the apartment complex's basement. With a couple of valve turns, Mario had shut off the flow of water. He returned upstairs to find Luigi examining the tub.

"Yep, these pipe fitting's are to blame." Luigi said shaking his head. "Poor fits all throughout. It's a wonder that you weren't having problems before."

"But lucky for you, we're experts in pipe-fitting!" Mario chimed in. The bros set straight to work, measuring the diameter of the pipes leading from the main water unit and discerning where the biggest discrepancies started. Within about half an hour, they'd completely overhauled the pipes in E. Gadd's home.

"Oh thank you boys! How can I ever thank you?"

"Well, you can start by telling your friends about us! And, by kindly giving us our owed $79."

"Ah yes. Of course. I'll have to let my neighbors know what a fine job you did." E. Gadd said as he scribbled I.O.U. $79 on a piece of paper and handed it to Mario.

"I.O.U.?!" Mario asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid I don't have that kind of money right this second. But once I do, I'll pay you, you have my word!" Gadd said crossing his heart.

"Mario, what can we do? The poor guy's probably on his last dollar." Luigi whispered. "Just take it." Mario knew Luigi was right. As far as De Kalb places went, E. Gadd wasn't doing too well for himself. He nodded and accepted the paper.

"Don't be afraid to call us again if something comes up." Mario said cheerfully as he and Luigi collected their tools and left.

"Man, I feel bad for him." Luigi said as they walked back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Yeah, but we gotta eat too ya know!" Mario said somewhat bitterly. "We do this too much Luigi. I know we've always prided ourselves in being polite and treating our customers like family, but we're going to have to start pressing 'em. Bowser's getting on our butts about the rent!"

Bowser Koopa was not a man you wanted to owe money too. A single parent, he took great pride in the unscrupulous and brutal nature he'd passed on to his eight children who he employed as collection agents. It was practically a mafia family, the way he charged for such sub-par accommodations.

"I'm gonna get a drink." Mario mumbled as he handed what he couldn't carry in his tool belt or overalls to Luigi. "Don't forget to feed Yoshi again."

"Yeah, yeah. Sheesh, you'd think we never feed that lizard the way he eats!"

They parted ways, Mario turning down Eagle avenue, eventually coming to a little hole in the wall place called "Peach's Castle."

"Mario my man! Step right up! Feelin' lucky? Cuz man have I got a deal for you!" A young boy wearing a blue hoodie and jeans with a white and red polka dotted hat called out barker style as he nearly ambushed Mario as he entered. "Games of skill my friend! Lady Fortune smiles on you today Mario, I can feel it! Come on, just a couple'a coins to play!"

"Toad! Stop trying to hustle my customers!" The bartendress called to her younger brother.

Her bright blue eyes and angelic beauty were dulled by care worn tiredness, her blond hair which naturally flowed in puffy locks tied up in a messy ponytail. Peach Toadstool lead a difficult life to say the least. Seven years ago, at the age of 18, her parents had died, leaving her and her five year old brother Todd, or 'Toad' as everyone called him, to fend for themselves. She had been especially close with her father, who had always called her his princess. And so to honor him, she'd named her establishment Peach's Castle. It was actually thanks to Mario that Peach had been able to obtain the shack of a bar in the first place. He'd been a regular under the previous owner, and had won it from him in a high stakes game of poker. At first, Mario had considered selling it. But then Peach moved into the Mushroom Kingdom with Toad, unable to afford any other housing. Mario convinced her to take the bar off his hands. So, Peach ran a simple business while Toad reluctantly attended school.

"Busy day Peach?" Mario asked, glancing around the empty bar.

"We're on fire today." Peach said sarcastically as she started preparing Mario's usual.

"Hey, chin up. I just did a job basically for free."

"For free? What on earth for?"

"Old friend. Taught Luigi and I in school. Couldn't afford to pay us, so he gave us an I.O.U." Mario said waving the little slip of paper.

"I'm sorry. If Bowser didn't charge us so high, we wouldn't have these problems." Peach sighed as she leaned against the bar. Mario took the drink in one shot and slid a few bills across the counter. Peach pushed it away.

"It's on the house. If you can work for free, then so can I." Mario shook his head.

"Peach, you need money more than Luigi and I. We can take care of ourselves, but you've got Toad to worry about." Peach reluctantly took the money and put it in the register.

"Thanks. You're my savior once again."

"Just the kindness of my heart." Mario laughed. Peach joined in.

"You know what we both need? Better advertising."

"Yeah, word of mouth ain't working so well. I doubt Professor Gadd's gonna tell anyone about us."

"Yeah. Maybe if Bowser'd let us put stuff up on the outer wall..."

"What, so he could charge us for that too?" Mario scoffed.

"Good point. But we'll think of something."

"I guess." Mario shrugged. "Things always turn out one way or another."

"That's what I like about you Mario. You're always optimistic." The ends of Mario's bushy mustache twitched as he gave a small smile.

"Nah, not always. I kinda got on Luigi's butt about having to take the I.O.U."

"Well, we all snap at some point." Peach shrugged.

"I guess so. I'll catch you later Peach. I'm gonna go home. You keep working on that advert idea." Mario said as he slid off his stool.

"'Kay. Bye!" Peach called as she turned around to continue cleaning behind the counter.

Mario shuffled out of Peach's Castle after a quick goodbye to Toad, and realized his heart rate had picked up. It confused him. He was in relatively good health, despite Luigi's jibes about his weight. And he hadn't been doing anything physically exhausting. He brushed it off as a fluke and kept walking.

* * *

"Mario! You're late with the rent again!" Bowser Koopa roared as Mario entered the Mushroom Kingdom, his fire red hair even messier than normal. Mario had never really been intimidated by Bowser. He tried to remedy this by wearing spiked bracelets to his kids' chagrin.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! What do you want me to do, force every nickel out of my poor elderly customers?!"

"If you have to." Koopa grumbled. "I'm not gonna put up with this much longer, plumber. That goes for everyone here!" He shouted to the lobby in general, despite the fact that it was otherwise empty. The conversation was clearly over. Bowser stomped back into his office, leaving Mario to return to his apartment.

Bowser had some imagination when it came to his building, Mario had to admit. Each floor past the ground level was labeled World, followed by the floor number. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad all lived on World 1. Mario had never really been compelled to visit the other floors, especially since Bowser and his little 'Koopalings' lived on World 8, but he'd heard that each World was decorated with a different mural that spanned the entirety of the hallway walls.

"Hey Mario." Luigi said casually as Mario entered their apartment. Luigi was sitting in front of their TV playing a video game. Their pet lizard, Yoshi sat on the floor by Luigi, munching happily on an orange.

"Hey Weegie." Mario said, plopping down on the couch. "What've you been up to?"

"Nuthin'." Luigi simply said. "Fed Yoshi, started playing."

"I can see that." Mario said, glancing at Yoshi who finished off the orange with a huge bite.

"So where'd you go?"

"Where do you think?"

"Peach's Castle." Luigi snorted.

"Yeah."

"Just admit it Mario."

"Admit what?"

"You've got the hots for Peach!" Luigi snickered knowingly.

"What?! No! No I don't!"

"Come on. Don't tell me she's not hot. It is a matter of _fact_."

"Well, yeah, but--"

"And come on, she's a sweetheart. When she's not stressed that is."

"Well--"

"So what's not to like?"

"Well then why don't you ask her out?" Mario asked, frustrated.

"Because she clearly likes you!" Luigi snapped. "And, I'm not really concerned about girls right this second."

"Right this second." Mario scoffed. "So what's that mean? You'll be into girls when you're dead?" Luigi had no response to that but to blush.

A few silent seconds passed, save the flickers from the ancient TV and the turned down sound bytes from the NES.

"You know, Peach said something interesting." Mario mentioned.

"Oh yeah?"

"She said we should advertise more."

"Did I not tell you that before?" Luigi asked, slightly angry.

"Well yeah, but I'm startin' to think you're both right. I mean word of mouth has been kind of bust."

"So you wanna make an advertisement?"

"Why not? I mean it can't cost that much can it?"

"Well depends. You want a billboard, a commercial, or what?"

"I dunno. We'll figure something out." Mario droned as he pulled his cap over his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Even further into Brooklyn's poor section sat a dilapidated, seedy, utterly wretched sinkhole. But Wario wouldn't have wanted it any other way. WarioWare Inc. "I dare you to find a better motorcycle repair shop!" Wario would boast to anyone who'd listen to him. The big lard himself was currently sitting in his office, smoking a cigar, running his books. If there was one thing Wario loved, it was money. Well, there was garlic too, but money definitely for sure came out on tops.

"Mona! I'm closin' up early today!" Wario bellowed as he snapped the ledger closed. Mona, his most faithful employee, entered in response to her boss's shout. Mona was sweet. Far too sweet for anyone to understand why such a nice young girl worked for such a greasy bugger like Wario,

"Okie dokie! This came for you." Mona said cheerfully as she tossed him a letter.

"Hm?" Wario asked curiously. He slit open the envelope and skimmed over the letter as reading bored him. Upon seeing the subject however, he read it again more closely. "Oh ho! So that slimy little ****er's out of jail? Well, this is just too good!" Wario guffawed. "Hey Mona, don't bother opening tomorrow! I'm having a little family reunion!"

* * *

Author's Notes: Well, this is an interesting first for me: an inspiration piece. Seriously, go to deviantART and type in Mushroom Kingdom. One of the deviations that shows up on the first page is a picture of a more realistic Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Bowser, and Yoshi. The idea being that the Mushroom Kingdom's a crappy apartment building. I really like that idea, so I got the artist's permission to write a fanfic about it! Tell me what you think! And do the guy a favor and check out his gallery too. He's got some good art there.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Based on a submission to deviantART. A reimagining of Mario with everyone living in a Brooklyn apartment complex. Follow the wacky real life adventures of the Mario Bros., Peach, Daisy, Wario, and of course, their landlord Bowser. Rated T.

Disclaimer: Characters owned by Nintendo. Concept inspired by artwork done by the-slift, whose permission I have to write this.

* * *

Chapter 2

The sun finally decided to show itself the next day. The Mario Bros. had decided to do something fun, and so they offered to take Toad off of Peach's hands for a while. Toad liked hanging out with the Marios, and they found him to be a fun, easy to mess with kid. Finding little of interest to do at the Mushroom Kingdom, they decided to head to the Brooklyn Zoo. The rain of yesterday's feel was still there, creating a wet, bright, jungle-like atmosphere, perfect for zoo-going.

"Check out these gorillas!" Toad called as he ran over to the great apes exhibit "Kong Island." A new experiment in social relations among apes prompted the zoo staff to keep various members of different species in the same enclosure. The results had been promising so far, with a chimp particularly taking to the family of gorillas.

"I don't think that silverback likes you, Mario" Luigi said as he pointed at the dominant male, which was baring his teeth at the red capped plumber.

"Tough," Mario called to him. "I ain't complainin' about how you smell or anything, so what's your problem, huh?" The gorilla's response was to slap the ground and hoot and holler, prompting the others (a few gorillas, a few chimps, and an orangutan) to follow suit.

"Heh, you don't mess with D.K. man" A younger zookeeper laughed as he observed the exchange.

"D.K.?" Luigi asked curiously.

"Donkey Kong. Don't ask," he said, reading the look on Toad's face.

"OooooK" Toad said, holding his hands up in defense. A split second later, he and Luigi were on the ground laughing at Mario, who'd received a facefull of bananas from Donkey Kong.

* * *

Wario stood outside Riker's Island, idly picking his nose. The main door rumbled open, and a parole officer stepped forward, leading the unmistakably lanky figure of Waluigi.

"Took ya long enough" Wario grumbled as he lit up a cigarette.

"Bite me" Waluigi snapped. The parole officer's face remained stony.

"I'll see you in two weeks. You don't show-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get my ass hauled back here" Waluigi said impatiently. The parole officer's nose wrinkled slightly in disgust, but he said nothing as he left the two brothers.

"Hop on" Wario said, stamping out his cigarette and gesturing to his motorcycle.

"I suppose I should say thanks for picking me up" Waluigi admitted as he situated himself behind Wario. Wario shrugged.

"I don't care. I got nothin' better to do anyway."

"So what do we do then?"

"We could stop by the shop. I told Mona not to open today, but we could screw around there."

"Sure. I bet you want me working for you again don't you?"

"Be a bum for all I care" Wario snorted. "But if you want to do something financially productive, then you're welcome to help me."

"For illegally low salary?"

"You know me too well" Wario chortled as his hog roared down the streets of New York.

* * *

"Thanks so much for looking after him guys" Peach said to Mario and Luigi.

It was night now, and Peach had closed the bar after another dry day. After the banana incident, Mario had been removed from the zoo for trying to enter the gorilla enclosure to settle his new score with Donkey Kong. The entire thing had endeared him to Toad, but had also worn the kid out, contributing to Peach's gratefullness to the Mario brothers as she could look forward to a quiet night with Toad in bed.

"Well you know Peach, Mario told me about that advertising idea you had. Why don't you two discuss it? Over dinner may-ouch!" Luigi cried as Mario stamped on his foot. Peach didn't really notice, as she was considering what Luigi had said.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Nice thinking Luigi!" Peach smiled. Mario shot a frustrated look at Luigi, but wiped it away as he walked with Peach to the lobby.

"So where do you want to go?" Mario asked awkwardly as they left the building.

"Um...I don't really know. I don't eat out a lot" Peach admitted. "Do you have any ideas?" Mario thought for a while, then snapped his fingers as he recieved an epiphany.

"Did you ever meet the last owner of the bar?"

"No. Why?"

"Well, he just opened up a new place. He's one hell of a guy. He'll have some good ideas for our advertising problems."

With a new spring in his step, Mario led Peach to the outskirts of Brooklyn, coming near the edge of Queens. Their destination was a wooden longhouse with a flashy neon sign sporting an angry looking cowboy hat wearing bullet with red letters proclaiming "Bullet Bill's BBQ." The tinkle of a bell accompanied the opening of the door. A young hostess quickly seated them and got drink orders.

Mario glanced around the restaurant, very impressed. While not 'fancy' per se, it was very well furnished, and decorated with a huge selection of western apparel. A mousy looking employee wearing sunglasses pounded away at a honky tonk, producing a lively ragtime piece.

"Son of a gun!" A southern drawl howled. "Mario Mario! Hot damn it's good to see you, boy!" Mario found himself in the stone hard bear hug of the voice's owner.

"Holy-! Bill! Nice to see you too!" Mario choked. Bill laughed and let go of the plumber.

"So how're you handling my old bar?" Bill asked, blue eyes shimmering with glee. He'd aged a bit since he and Mario had last met, with his red-blond hair and moustache starting to turn gray under his ever present cowboy hat.

"Well, I'm not the one handling it, as you may have heard."

"You know, I did hear you _gave it away_," Bill said, shaking his head in disbelief. "So is this the famous Princess Peach?" Peach laughed embarrassed.

"Oh man, that nickname's going to stick" she sighed. "Yes, I'm Peach Toadstool."

"Charmed. I'm 'Bullet' Bill Barton. Now to what do I owe this excellent pleasure?"

"Well, I kind of wanted to see if you were as good at running a barbeque house as you were at running a bar" Mario said straightforwardly. "And we also need a bit of advice."

"Advice eh? Well you came to the right place. Janie, get us a full rack a couple of beers and some cornbread!" Bill hollared to the nearest waitress. "So what kind of advice?"

"Advertising" Mario said.

"Well, I'm not surprised. I always told you that word of mouth was only good for a little while."

"So did Luigi" Mario said. "But Peach here needs some good advertising too. She's got a great thing going for the old place, but nobody even knows it exists anymore."

"So you basically need a shot from the ol' Bullet Bill cannon?" Bill joked.

"Pretty much" Peach butted in.

"Well, I have just the thing" Bill said. "I just purchased a couple of blocks for commercials. Now, I don't need all of them-"

"No! We're not stealing from your advertising space Bill!" Mario protested.

"Mario, I've got four time slots for one commercial. I think it's not going to hurt me if you two take one each" Bill said firmly, joviality temporarily gone. "If you two can film satisfactory commercials by the time I have to have something to occupy them, I'll give you the slots." The food arrived, and Bill plunged right in. Mario and Peach followed suit after a tentative glance at each other.

"Thanks Bill" Mario finally said as he took a few ribs smeared with sauce.

"Hey, anything for a man who plays poker like you." Bill grinned "And anything for a pretty young thing like Peach here." Peach blushed furiously as she ate away at her ribs. Bill laughed more. The rest of the mealtime passed in casual conversation so that Mario and Bill could catch up with each other.

"Well Bill, I have to thank you for everything again. It's really no trouble for us to pay for the food" Mario said. Bill shook his head.

"Friends eat free Mario. My policy. But don't be such a stranger! Stop by more often!"

"We will," Peach piped up. "Definitely sometime soon."

"Well then, g'night to you two" Bill waved as he returned to the indoors.

"He seems nice" Peach giggled as they walked back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Yeah, he's always in a good mood" Mario laughed in disbelief, shaking his head.

"So how long have you known him?"

"Years. Ever since me and Luigi opened up shop. So that would be...a good seven years."

"Wow, you guys were really young to be starting your own business."

"You should talk," Mario pointed out. "But we'd been training to be plumbers for years. We knew what we were doing."

"And your dad taught you?"

"Yep. Taught the two of us everything he knew. Then he passed away a few years before your dad."

"Well, you two have done fine for yourselves" Peach said, starting to navigate away from the painful subject.

"Thanks. I'm glad you think so."

"So, do you want to work together on the ads?"

"I don't see why not. I'm sure you, me, Toad, and Luigi would be able to throw something good together."

"Cool, well why don't we start this weekend?"

"Sounds like a plan." They had reached the Mushroom Kingdom now. A lone fluorescent light flickered in the lobby. Unfortunately, it was not the only thing that was awake.

"Mario! Where's my freakin' rent already?"

"Jeez Bowser, you only asked me yesterday! Give a guy some time, willya?" Bowser Koopa was positively hopping mad. But he contained himself, for fear of waking up his tenants.

"Lay off Bowser" Peach said, unusual anger in her voice. "I'm even later than he is. So if you're going to yell at anyone, yell at me!" Bowser was taken aback by Peach's outburst.

"I could never yell at you, Peach" he said, his voice unusually soft and calm.

"Well then don't yell at Mario either" Peach fumed as she stormed up the stairs. Mario turned around back to Bowser who mouthed 'watch yourself,' gave him an evil look, and stomped away.

Mario followed Peach to the first floor, but she was already in her apartment. Not wanting to disturb her, Mario decided to return to his own apartment across the hall.

"...making this the fourth time that the world famous explorer was declared missing, only for his wife to discover he'd been on an expidition. In other news, General Guy Osborn announced today that significant steps had been taken towards-"

"Hey bro," Luigi said, looking away from the late night news. "So how'd your hot date go? You know, the one _I _set you up on?"

"_Dinner_," Mario said, "was good. We went to Bullet Bill's new place."

"That old son of a gun? How's he doing?"

"Pretty good for himself. Get this: he's giving us a TV spot for free!"

"No way!"

"Yeah way. We're going to start working on it this weekend."

"That's awesome! See? Things'll be turning around in no time Mario!"

"I hope you're right Luigi" Mario yawned as he made his way to bed.

* * *

Author's Notes: Fun little chapter I think. I have no idea why this took so long. It's been sitting on my computer like this for a while now, so maybe I thought I was going to add to it, but I don't want to now. So most, if not all, Mario characters will have a presence of some sort in this story. I'll try and make the references to who's who clear, but there are some that may be more subtle. For instance, a lot of the enemy characters will show up as tenants of the Mushroom Kingdom, but it won't be as obvious as "Bullet Bill Barton." Please read and review! I think it's sad that this doesn't have any reviews at the time of this writing.


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Based on a submission to deviantART. A reimagining of Mario with everyone living in a Brooklyn apartment complex. Follow the wacky real life adventures of the Mario Bros., Peach, Daisy, Wario, and of course, their landlord Bowser. Rated T.

Disclaimer: Characters owned by Nintendo. Concept inspired by artwork done by the-slift, whose permission I have to write this.

* * *

Chapter 3

"Ok, let's think this through" Mario said rubbing his temples as he sat at a stool in front of a green screen the Mario Bros., Peach and Toad had set up in the Marios' apartment. "What's catchy? What's fun?"

"Let's rap!" Luigi sniggered.

"Worth a shot. You can improv right?"

"You kiddin'? Have you forgotten who they named Best Rapper in high school?"

"Wasn't that Donny Brooks?"

"No!" Luigi blatantly lied.

"Action bros!" Toad called.

"Yo we're the Mario brothers, and plumbing's our game, we're not like the others who get all the fame! If your sink is in trouble you can call us on the double, we're faster than the others, you'll be hooked on the brothas!"

"Cut!" Mario shouted. "Weegie, that was awful!"

"Are you on shrooms? That rocked!" Luigi protested.

"No, Luigi, it really didn't" Peach said gently. "You'll have to think of something else."

"We could use the voice" Luigi suggested to Mario.

"No!" Mario said mortified.

"What's the voice?" Peach asked, giggling.

"Oh, Mario loves poking fun at stereotypes of us Italians" Luigi explained. "So he and I made up these funny little voices."

"I wanna hear it" Peach said firmly.

"Me too!" Toad agreed.

"Three to one bro, let's give it a shot."

"Fine" Mario said defeatedly.

"And action!" Toad called as he started rolling.

"Hello! It's-a me! Mario! If-a you havin' trouble with-a you pipes, then just-a call me and my brother Luigi!"

"Hello!" Luigi piped up in his own voice. "I'm-a Luigi. We offer the best-a plumbing services in Brooklyn! We fast, cheap, and we offer the best-a family discounts!"

"So just-a call us, Mario Brothers Plumbing at-a 718-123-BROS, okie-dokie, have a nice-a day! Whoohoo!"

"That was awesome!" Toad raved after he stopped filming. Mario looked beyond embarrassed.

"That was the cutest thing I've ever heard!" Peach laughed.

"Y'hear that bro? Cute" Luigi whispered.

"Aw _stare zitto_" Mario muttered.

"You shut up!" Luigi countered.

"I told ya first!" Mario pushed back.

"Guys! Can it! We've gotta do ours next!" Toad said authoritatively.

"Oh, right! Gimme the camera Toad" Luigi said.

"Any idea what you want to do?" Mario asked as he leaned against the wall behind Luigi.

"Well I was thinking we could shoot in the bar. I didn't really want to use the green screen."

"Okay, you don't have to," Mario said, "we just have a better background idea. So, to the Castle!"

* * *

Wario wolfed down the extra garlic bread that occupied the plate on his desk greedily.

"Why didn't Waluigi want to hang out here?" Mona asked.

"You're late again as usual" Wario sneered ignoring the question.

"Waluigi" Mona pressed.

"Listen girly, I don't give a crap what he does. If he wants to work here, more power to him. But I've always been a do it yourself type."

"Hence the employees" Mona said wryly.

"If you weren't my girl you'd be fired for that."

"Riiiight. So listen, have you noticed things have been going kind of strangely recently?"

"Whadda you mean?"

"Well for one, haven't you noticed the weather hasn't improved?"

"Are you blind? Sure it has!"

"In the rest of the city Wario. But not over us. Specifically us. I think something's up."

"That's crazy talk Mona. Who'd have it out for us?"

"Do you want an honest answer?"

"What I want is you to get a progress report from Crygor, and find out if anyone's been snooping around about 9-Volt."

"Dude, they've got like a million other places to check for illegal child hiring before they check here."

"I don't take chances!" Wario barked. "Just do it!"

* * *

The cab pulled to the curb slowly. It had started to rain out, and by the low constant rumbling, a thunderstorm was likely working its way toward Manhattan. That wasn't deterring one of the omnipresent street artists that happened to be at the curb where the cab had stopped. He was a blind old man, and he played the blues on his ancient, battered saxophone like it was connected to his soul. He didn't stop his stream of jazz as he listened to the taxi. The steps were light, probably a woman. He smiled and stopped as he felt some change clink to his feet and the rain stopped dropping on his head. His mysterious patron, whoever they were, had an umbrella.

"That's some pretty good playing" a husky, feminine voice said admiringly.

"Well thanks" the old man chuckled. "Got any requests?"

"If by requests you mean asking if you can help me find Mario Bros. Plumbing, then yes."

"Well, if you go up a few blocks and turn right, it should be right there. 'Course I don't know myself, never seen the place" the old man laughed. "But I hear it's nearby."

"Thanks."

"Any time Lady."

"Actually," the lady said smiling beneath the brim of her wide rain hat, "it's Pauline."

* * *

Author's Notes: Sorry this took so long. And for the shorter length. The final product of this chapter sat on my computer for about a month. Normally I'd add more, but I wanted to update this despite the fact that I've gotten like one review for it. Really, please let me know what you think if you read this. I really want to keep this one going.


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